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Pretty late in the season to start this up but I did a few searches and it doesn't appear we have one yet. I finally did my 2018 attendance charts and things actually look decent. Here's all four seasons:

Click to embiggen. 2017 would have been pretty much flat if Hartford was 20,000 instead of 10,000, and this year is basically the same as last year, which both surprised and pleased me. Not the 29,000 of the first year but a good solid 23,000 for both this year and last year. And note that all four years have that early season are-you-kidding-me-I'm-not-going-out-to-the-stadium-when-it's-only-23° dips in attendance, this year being no exception. The point of that is although it's hard to see if you don't view the chart at full size the trend line is tilted slightly upwards.

So basically by the number of tickets sold I'd have to say we're doing pretty well. Sure, not up to the levels of the first season or two but we seem to be holding steady at solidly filling a 25,000-seater for almost all our matches without any trouble. At least by tickets sold.

Hopefully this year we'll have more than one playoff game to put in the alternate shading.

I was extremely disappointed in the attendance at last night's game. Yeah, it was Vancouver, but it was also a Saturday night in August and the weather was great. We shouldn't be sub-21k on a night like that. Attendance continues it's downward trend against Red Bulls as well. This team is going to continue bleeding season ticket holders without a stadium announcement. They can try new gimmicks but the glut of seats isn't helping one bit.

The average trend line last year and this year look similar, but I think there is a significant difference. Total reported attendance is down by 12,180 through through 12 games. The average attendance is down 1,015. Those probably draw closer with an extra RB game and no Hartford in the last 5, but it's a bad trend year-to-year.

Average attendance thru 12 games 2015 against 2016 -2,096
Average attendance thru 12 games 2016 against 2017 -3,226
Average attendance thru 12 games 2017 against 2018 -1,015

Without Hartford, last year's fall would have been 2,446, but that would also make this year's drop 1,775.

The average trend line last year and this year look similar, but I think there is a significant difference. Total reported attendance is down by 12,180 through through 12 games. The average attendance is down 1,015. Those probably draw closer with an extra RB game and no Hartford in the last 5, but it's a bad trend year-to-year.

Average attendance thru 12 games 2015 against 2016 -2,096
Average attendance thru 12 games 2016 against 2017 -3,226
Average attendance thru 12 games 2017 against 2018 -1,015

Without Hartford, last year's fall would have been 2,446, but that would also make this year's drop 1,775.

Click to expand...

I think that's slightly misleading (not intentionally on your part though, just to state that up front). If you add 10,000 for Hartford, but also take away 10,000 for the first match and some New Jersey matches, all 30,000+ things would be a lot more similar year to year. Just like in Olympic judging, throwing out the outliers may give a more reasonable picture.

Not saying it's insignificant, just that those high-attendance matches can weight the averages in ways that would even out over 20 years but maybe don't have that chance over just four years.

I think that's slightly misleading (not intentionally on your part though, just to state that up front). If you add 10,000 for Hartford, but also take away 10,000 for the first match and some New Jersey matches, all 30,000+ things would be a lot more similar year to year. Just like in Olympic judging, throwing out the outliers may give a more reasonable picture.

Not saying it's insignificant, just that those high-attendance matches can weight the averages in ways that would even out over 20 years but maybe don't have that chance over just four years.

Click to expand...

I grant that Year 1 was its own thing. But 2016, 2017 and 2018 should all basically have similar highs and lows, with the main causes of imbalance being that 2016 and 2018 (eventually) have 2 RB games instead of 1 , and 2017 has Hartford.
Also, take away Hartford, which is by far the most singular low game in club home attendance history and the drop from 16 to 17 was bigger than 15 to 16. Which is itself an argument that 2015 wasn't such an extraordinary year after all.

I'm not arguing doom and gloom. NYCFC attendance is still closer to the top of the league than the bottom or even middle. But I am concerned that the line hasn't started to bounce around a middle point yet. Year to year it is still going down.

I was extremely disappointed in the attendance at last night's game. Yeah, it was Vancouver, but it was also a Saturday night in August and the weather was great. We shouldn't be sub-21k on a night like that. Attendance continues it's downward trend against Red Bulls as well. This team is going to continue bleeding season ticket holders without a stadium announcement. They can try new gimmicks but the glut of seats isn't helping one bit.

Click to expand...

I think everyone overestimates the NYC sports market by talking about a 35k stadium. We are a winning team in a diverse market, with dirt cheap tickets, close to mass transit and we can't fill seats. NYC likes stars and playoffs. I hardly see/hear any advertising anywhere. You're lucky to hear our score on the radio or TV. The stadium atmosphere sucks and we are bound to lose many more fans. I don't want to turn into Red Bulls 2.0. BUT...this is NYC and as soon as there is a shiny new stadium, all the fair weather fans will go, pack the place and tix will increase. That being said, I know it's a bad look, but they should honestly reduce the season ticket prices for next year. I may be ok with nothing, but they just might have the balls to raise them.

I think everyone overestimates the NYC sports market by talking about a 35k stadium. We are a winning team in a diverse market, with dirt cheap tickets, close to mass transit and we can't fill seats. NYC likes stars and playoffs. I hardly see/hear any advertising anywhere. You're lucky to hear our score on the radio or TV. The stadium atmosphere sucks and we are bound to lose many more fans. I don't want to turn into Red Bulls 2.0. BUT...this is NYC and as soon as there is a shiny new stadium, all the fair weather fans will go, pack the place and tix will increase. That being said, I know it's a bad look, but they should honestly reduce the season ticket prices for next year. I may be ok with nothing, but they just might have the balls to raise them.

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Reducing ticket prices won't make a difference. People can pick up tickets on Stub Hub for well below face value. I think, like you said, NYC lines big stars. Villa is a star but he's been injured for a big chunk of the season. Maxi and Medina might be good players but they don't move the needle.

We are a winning team in a diverse market, with dirt cheap tickets, close to mass transit and we can't fill seats.

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I agree about the 35,000 seat stadium being way too large but the "we can't fill seats" theme puzzles me. Not counting the two freezing cold matches every match this season except one was over 20,000, and the one that was under was on a Wednesday in the middle of a three-game week. If I ran the world I'd build a 25,000 seat stadium but with an added third deck bit that holds another 2,000 up top for when we need a little extra for groups or away fans. And if we ever do need a lot more seats they could add more sections to that third level to make it another complete ring.

If you're expecting Portland or Atlanta numbers that's probably unrealistic, but I'd be perfectly happy with selling out a 25,000 seat stadium for the first two years and then having 22,000 or 23,000 each game after that. Sort of like what we have now.

I agree about the 35,000 seat stadium being way too large but the "we can't fill seats" theme puzzles me. Not counting the two freezing cold matches every match this season except one was over 20,000, and the one that was under was on a Wednesday in the middle of a three-game week. If I ran the world I'd build a 25,000 seat stadium but with an added third deck bit that holds another 2,000 up top for when we need a little extra for groups or away fans. And if we ever do need a lot more seats they could add more sections to that third level to make it another complete ring.

If you're expecting Portland or Atlanta numbers that's probably unrealistic, but I'd be perfectly happy with selling out a 25,000 seat stadium for the first two years and then having 22,000 or 23,000 each game after that. Sort of like what we have now.

If I ran the world, of course.

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Are those numbers gate numbers or ticket sales. I've been to every game but two. Most games where they flash 20k + fans on the screen there's empty seats all over the place looking more like 18k. There's no way there is 22/23 a game. Those numbers are a lie.

I was extremely disappointed in the attendance at last night's game. Yeah, it was Vancouver, but it was also a Saturday night in August and the weather was great. We shouldn't be sub-21k on a night like that. Attendance continues it's downward trend against Red Bulls as well. This team is going to continue bleeding season ticket holders without a stadium announcement. They can try new gimmicks but the glut of seats isn't helping one bit.

Having such a capacity makes it definitely look emptier than it actually is.

ETA :what I mean is, many people keep saying that our in-stadium attendance looks well under what is reported, but to me it just looks like we have a giant-ass stadium that has 20,000-23,000 spread out over too big of a space. MTL was 18k, and it felt like 18k.

ETA II:
Compare that to Citi field, which is smaller than YS and we had usual attendance numbers, and it really felt so much more lively and rowdy, and looked fuller. It's just YS's size.

Having such a capacity makes it definitely look emptier than it actually is.

ETA :what I mean is, many people keep saying that our in-stadium attendance looks well under what is reported, but to me it just looks like we have a giant-ass stadium that has 20,000-23,000 spread out over too big of a space. MTL was 18k, and it felt like 18k.

ETA II:
Compare that to Citi field, which is smaller than YS and we had usual attendance numbers, and it really felt so much more lively and rowdy, and looked fuller. It's just YS's size.

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That's because at Citi Field, the field level and Excelsior level only hold 25.8k and with some sections closed behind home plate it's probably closer to 23-24k.

That's because at Citi Field, the field level and Excelsior level only hold 25.8k and with some sections closed behind home plate it's probably closer to 23-24k.

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Right, that's my point. It looked a lot more full, yet it was the same avg attendance as most of the previous games we had at YS. What made it feel so full was that it was less spread out, and just less seats in general. So it's not that the "reported" vs "real" is so drastically different, just that YS makes a smaller attendance feel very, very significant.

Something I had been looking at was how the context of our schedule has changed year to year. I don't know that any of this is a large enough sample to signify anything but I did find it interesting how we've abandoned Thursdays and Fridays, and the swings between scheduling Afternoons (I counted anything before 5:00) and Evenings. If you're totaling up, I left Hartford and Citi out of my data because they're (very hopefully) one-time outliers.

Are those numbers gate numbers or ticket sales. I've been to every game but two. Most games where they flash 20k + fans on the screen there's empty seats all over the place looking more like 18k. There's no way there is 22/23 a game. Those numbers are a lie.